The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 29: The Photos

A R I E L

AS I DRAGGED my feet down the hallway, I kept my head hanging low as my mind raced with the possibilities of who could have left that envelope in my locker. No one knows my combination and no one ever has, despite how close we may be. I only read the top half of the envelope because whatever is inside can't be pretty enough for others to catch a glimpse of it as they saunter by.

Whoever is threatening me was brave enough to deliver a pig's heart to my doorstep so I know this won't be light. They wait until I'm not home or anywhere near my locker to catch them in the act. This person studies me closely to the point where the colour of every threat I receive is purposely red: A red box, envelope, sticky notes. It's as if they're taunting me.

How could they be so cowardly? Why won't they threaten me to my face? Don't they realize this is not affecting me in the way they possibly expected it to? I'm not running to the authorities, I'm not shivering in my bed at night worried that they'd strike again and I sure as hell am not stopping until I find a culprit in Tobias' case. This is a waste of mine and their time. I won't even bother wasting my time on it.

Unless they make good on their threat and hurt my sister.

Then it's war.

"Well hello, bestie, where have you been? Did you forget that I existed?" Evelyn asked as she emerged from behind my locker's door. "I'm sorry, you know how hectic the past few weeks have been, especially with my suspension and all." She stood upright and leaned against the locker just beside mine, "I had to spend two weeks in this dreadful hell without you! Ever since Tobias' arrest you've been drifting away from me." It's because Tobias is more important than anything right now.

I just found out that his parents are Barry and Diane. I don't know how I didn't see that coming when it was quite obvious. With all Tobias' mental disorders I can now see where they stemmed from. Barry was for sure abusing Tobias and Beckett just as much as he abused Diane. When I read his story it felt more so like I was reading about a character from a novel. Now that I know he's the father of my boyfriend it no longer feels like fiction.

But, Mrs. Aspen still does not know if Barry was released. So I can't go any further with the Barry theory. I can't visit him because no one knows where he's being held and from what I read and what Jack and Mrs. Aspen told me: his parents are both dead and any distant relatives are unknown. There are no images nor names of Diane's co-workers who testified against him. There's absolutely nothing. Barry is basically a ghost. It was like he never existed. The only proof that he's real is his children, Jack and Melissa.

Since I can't move any further from here, the most I can do is collect all the evidence I've got and somehow try to link my blackmailer to this case. All I need to do right now is find someone who has a motive. It's not about who knew Maria and Kayla or who had the motive to kill them. As harsh as this may sound they don't really matter in this case and it's the truth. The real question is who had the motive to frame Tobias for it.

Out of all the kids who attended that party and came in contact with Maria and Kayla, Tobias just so happened to be the only person whose fingerprints were found on them? This was a blatantly obvious botched investigation. Tobias was arrested on circumstantial evidence. How he even got locked up for a few fingerprints still blows my mind. He was framed, simple as that. If I can make sense of this theory why can't others? I need them to believe it.

"Hey, it's okay, you're back now, so all is good. You need to catch up with school work, I'll help you." As Evelyn and I sauntered down the hallway, the envelope in my bag began to weigh down on my shoulders as if they were boulders. I know for a fact that whatever is inside might be worse than a bloody heart left on my doorstep. I just need to get away from Evelyn to open it. And if it is indeed worse than before then I have no choice but to catch this bastard myself.